I still see it clearly every time I close my eyes and try to sleep…
“Why?! Why did they shoot Daddy?!” I would cry, and she would just hold me tight, with tears and fear in her eyes. They just didn’t care. We were ponies they were zebras! The only reason they let us live was because of what we had on our heads. We’re unicorns and they need somepony to weave their spells for them… and father… he was an earth pony, not a significant loss if he died. They took him from us and in the end they took you too…

I have never seen the sea but Amber told me that she’d seen it in pictures and that it looks a lot like the savanna when seen from atop of a hill. A deep blue that spreads as far as the eye could see.

“Hello, anypony in there?” My daydreaming got interrupted by a certain caramel colored unicorn with a golden mane.

”Quit it Amber!” I flailed my hooves trying to get her to stop tapping me on the head. Amber is a few years older than me. She’s been my best friend and a good sister ever since we met. Well, Amber wasn’t my real sister, the zebras placed her within our small group when they took her from her family. But she was part of our family now and we tried to make the best of it. Amber never talked much about her old family, and I stopped asking because it made her sad.

We had made camp near an oasis to refill our canteens. This daily pause to rest was also used to repair our masters metal wagon. A “tank” Amber calls it. Most of the machines the Remnant have use magic. Since zebras can’t use magic they need unicorns to keep their talismans running. This “tank” ran on water. Coal is used to heat up and boil the water. The steam from the water would push it’s inside parts and make it move. The water talisman they had was old and cracked, and needed mending and recharging every now and then.

“Just making sure you’re still with us.” She said as she followed my gaze out into the vast nothingness. “Admiring the scenery?”

“I was just thinking about the sea. Do you think we will ever see it?” When I turned to look at her, Amber had hung her head low and was looking at the ground, anger plain on her face.

“Amber? Whats wrong?” I asked as gently as I could.

“It’s just not fair. They keep us like animals like we wronged them somehow. We should be free to go anywhere we want!” She said hotly. I could see it in her eyes, she wanted to go, and she didn’t care if they shot her before she got twelve hooves from the perimeter.
I put my hoof on her shoulder and gave her a pleading look.

“I know, I know. There is no way I would make it. They are always watching, even if we can’t always see them.” Some of the zebras wore cloaks that made them invisible so we would have to constantly mind ourselves. A few tried to get away, to sneak off at night. Their bodies were on display in the morning. The Remnant had killed every earth pony that had tried to escape. There are now about twenty of us left. Seven unicorns: Amber Glow, my Mom, two fillies, a buck, an older mare and myself and thirteen earth ponies, eight of them are fillies.

“Come on Mist, we’re getting ready to leave.” I nodded and looked over the vast expanse once more before going with her. My heart ached. It was like the world was calling out to me and I couldn’t answer.

I found my Dad packing food into his saddlebags. We have to pack any fruit or grass that is safe to eat and carry it with us. Most of the plants are still tainted from the war. Anything we find that is not, we eat and pack the rest for later. Every pony would have to gather their own food. If they don’t then they go hungry. At least until we reach our destination.

Dad smiled when he saw me approach, I noticed he had a new bruise on his face.

“Wha… what happened?” I asked as he raised a hoof to his left eye.

“Oh this. It’s nothing. Hit my head when I crawled inside that blasted thing to oil it. Here, go fill our canteens then bring them to your mother, she’s over there by the tree looking over the fillies.”

I knew he didn’t hit his head, but I swallowed back my words. He probably wasn’t working fast enough or something, and that had angered the guards. They hate us and treat us like dirt, but they still need us. I didn’t know whether to curse them or pity them.

I went to the little watering hole and slowly dipped the canteens in the water with my magic, the zebra guards, grim faced, watched me like hawks in case I tried anything “funny”. The water wasn’t the cleanest but I hoped it was safe enough to drink. It must be since no one was stopping me. Our “masters” sometimes used devices that would make a clicking sound when they brought them close to the water. That meant it was too dangerous to drink and they wouldn’t allow us to go near it. I watched the tiny waves gently spread out when I pulled the canteen out. Once the water had settled I could see my reflection. Something tightened in my chest.

“Over here!” Mom was waving a hoof. There were ponies moving about in the shade of the big tree. She smiled as I approached but then she frowned.

“Mist, what’s wrong?”

“It’s…I… why are they doing this, what did WE do to them to deserve this?” I asked, thinking back to fathers bruised eye and all the other cruel things they did to other ponies.

“Who?”

“The zebras!” Anger had seeped into my voice. Amber was right, this isn’t fair!

“You already know. You asked me this before.”

“The war?! But the war is over! You told me so. It ended two hundred years ago.”

She let out a sigh as she looked at her hooves sadness plastered over her face.

“For the Remnant the war will never be over.” She looked away while idly touching the clasp of her saddlebags.

“Our great great grandparents crossed the sea to get away from the war.” She pulled out a book. It was her grandmothers diary. She had written down the events that took place at the culmination of the war and explained why our family had to leave our home behind. While the war was starting in earnest, ponies built stables. These underground homes that would save them should the worst happen. My family couldn’t get a stable pass so they had to find other ways to survive. They boarded a ship, and set sail with all the other ponies that were fortunate enough to make it in time.

I remember reading a few passages:

Day 5 on board “The Grace”

“We made it! Just in time it seems. We were pretty far from land by now, but we could still see the flashes and hear the rumbling, like distant thunder. And I can almost hear the screams of the unlucky ones that were caught in the blast or is that just my imagination. Our home is being torn apart. Ponies we knew, our friends were dying. Celestia have mercy on their souls. No pony is going to sleep tonight.

Day 42 on board “The Grace”

“We reached land at last! No pony knows what to expect. The captain says that this is Zevrass home of the zebras... Well that’s just wonderful! A lot of the passengers wanted to raise anchor and set sail right here and now, can’t say I blame them. But it’s not like the ships in the same condition as when we left. Two months at sea. During which we’ve been attacked by the occasional dragon riding, zebra skirmishers and we almost got sunk by an enemy ship! It’s a wonder the tub held together this long.”

Day 49 leaving “The Grace”

“After much discussion, shouting and throwing bottles at each other, a decision was made. We make for the coast. Our supplies won’t last forever and as for the natives. We just have to be careful.”

There were more than 400 ponies on board when they left the ship. Barely 100 were left after the first month in the new land. Some were taken as prisoners. Some were killed by zebras and some were killed by monsters. Those few that were left became small tribes. I was too young to remember. Mom said that we used to lived peacefully, even with other zebras. Before the Remnant found us.

“Yes the war is over but the Remnant still fights, they fight ponies, the Separatists. Anyone that gets in their way. Their Caesar is dead, but still they fight. Fight and hate.” Mom said as she gently stroked the book’s cover with a hoof before putting it away. That book is the only thing we have left from a time before the Remnant came and shackled us.
I leaned in and hugged her, feeling tears on my shoulder.
“I’m ok. Come, pack your things.”

A blanket, canteen (filled)? Check and check. My practice gem? Check. Can’t lose that. A practice gem is a flawed or damaged gem that can’t hold a magical charge for longer than a few hours. It is used for honing your skills, and helping ponies without talent in enchanting. I lacked the talent so they beat it into me with the gem, and then let me keep it as a reminder. I wasn’t the only pony who had difficulties with enchanting. There was a filly who couldn’t perform enchanting at all. It wasn’t her fault. She just couldn’t do it. They yelled and beat her. When her mother tried to make them stop they killed her. The filly was traded in at an outpost for a unicorn that could do enchanting. The memory still fresh in my mind as I huddled close to my parents. To my shame I was grateful that it was the filly who was going and not me.

The gears screeched and churned as the metal monsters insides moved. Puffs of smoke escaped out of the twin exhausts as the tank slowly moved its eight wheels. On it’s roof it had three guns that could be turned around to face any direction, two at the front and one on to the back. Behind each gun sat a zebra, scanning every which way, rotating the guns as they did. Twenty of us moved in columns of three, with zebra guards on all sides. The ones that I could see. There were more of them that wore shimmering invisibility cloaks.

They would move us from outpost to outpost once every few weeks. To fix what little precious pre-war tech they still had. Sometimes we might stop at a village, so that the Remnant could buy supplies. None of the zebras dared to approach us, not with the Remnant watching over us.

It was a nice change of scenery, and I used the opportunity to observe everything. From the daily lives of zebras to foals playing. Sometimes a particularly brave zebra foal might sneak close to us. He would try and talk to Amber and me. I couldn’t really understand him, but from what I could piece together it was: “Why are you caged? Did you do something wrong?”
I wish I knew.

But this was different. We weren’t stopping at the usual outposts. This was the first time they sent so many to watch over us.

I was so focused on studying the ground and listening to the sounds of dry grass crunching under my hooves that I got totally spooked when Amber bumped my flank.

“A cap for your thoughts?” Amber inquired cheerfully.

“Just wondering where they’re taking us now.” Not that it really mattered, and I didn’t really care.

“Worried? Don’t be scared Misty I’ll protect you.” She said lifting her muzzle high in the air smug as you please.

“I’m not… don’t call me that.”

“Call you what?” She said faking ignorance.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” She knew this irritated me so naturally being a true friend she didn’t stop.

“Misty? But that’s your name, isn’t it?” She scrunched up her face and squinted at me.

“It’s Mist! Mist!” Here she is poking fun at me and she has the nerve to roll her eyes! It’s not that I mind, but she never calls me Misty when we’re alone. Only when there are others around. She even introduces me as Misty to them, which of course leads to awkward questions like: “But you’re a colt?”, ”You realize that’s a fillies name right?”...

“Misty. Mist. What’s the difference? Oooo... wait I know! How about Misty Mist!”

SLAP!!!

That was the sound of my hoof meeting my face.

“That’s not even funny!” I cried. And for my troubles she stuck her tongue out at me. Despite her being older than me. I, the “more mature” pony, promptly stuck my tongue out. What followed was a fierce battle of who can out silly the other. Amber stuck her hoof in her mouth and puffed up her cheeks. I let my tongue hang limply from my mouth and shook my head. This continued for some time.

Annoyances aside, she lifted my spirits and kept my mind from wandering in to sadder thoughts, it also seems to have entertained the ponies around us.

As the day crept towards night, the mood in our little convoy changed. Everypony was on edge, especially the zebras. They kept looking left and right. Were they expecting enemies to just pop up out of nowhere. But they were right to be worried, we were entering a jungle now. Who knows what lay in wait behind the wall of trees.

No pony spoke, only the grinding of the tank could be heard and the sounds of the forest. Glancing up at the stars calmed me. Their light and twinkling... they were like diamonds. I found myself comforted.

The commander of the convoy ordered a halt in a clearing to rest and to send scouts to look ahead for danger. Zebras were patrolling the entire clearing, making sure no enemy might catch them unaware. We huddled together in silence.

I sat close to Dad as we waited for Mom to finish her work. It was her turn to make sure the talisman in the tank was still working. Amber was close by. With the help of a few other mares she was able to calm down the frightened fillies.

Looking around, I saw ponies trying to get some much needed rest. A rustling sound came from my left and immediately snapped me to attention, other heads started to rise too. The zebras were on full alert, their rifles raised and ready.

Silence.

Ponies waited with baited breath. It was as if time itself had stood still. Then came a muffled shot fired from a silenced rifle followed by a loud scream that didn’t belong to anything equine. I felt something cold creep up my spine and I shivered.

There was movement in the brush and all eyes were trained there, some ponies backed away slowly in the opposite direction, my father had stepped in front of me, motioning for me to stay back with a hoof.

To my right I saw Mom exiting the tank with a guard at her side, his rifle raised and pointed in the same direction as the rest, at the bushes. First there came a low growl from the jungle. It was quickly followed by a second gunshot. Then a head of a zebra flew out. The rest of its body could only be seen when the cloak slid off as the corpse hit the ground.

A beast, black as the night with blood red eyes and spikes that jutted from its back, ran out of the bushes and straight for the closest zebra. The beast was easily twice as high and long as any pony, built like a mountain. Clumps of rough fur here and there, a flat snout with two tusks that jutted from its lover jaw.

“RIPPER!!!” One zebra yelled. And they all opened fire on it. The night was filled with a cacophony of gunfire, roars, screams of fear, screams of anger, and the ringing of brass casings as they connected with the ones on the ground.

The beasts tough hide was giving it some protection, but it wasn’t bulletproof. It managed to gore one more zebra before it was put down by the tank’s high caliber guns. Everything was over in a space of a few seconds. The ripper beast was dead and zebra soldiers had begun prodding it with their blades. I thought it was over and let out a sigh of relief.

That is when all Hell broke loose.

The tank exploded. The night was once again filled with screams of frightened ponies. Zebras started shooting at the forest. We were under attack by other zebras!

“For the Caesar!” They shouted and ponies started dying. Bullets were flying everywhere. They didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire. I kept my head down while moving away from the fighting. Until I heard a familiar yell.

A zebra just struck my Mom, and he was now pointing a gun at her. I ran as quickly as I could, but my father got to them first. He tackled the guard, and as they struggled on the ground I was able to reach my Mom and help her up.

My father wasn’t a particularly big stallion. However he is an earth pony, and he is tough. The zebra didn’t have it easy. But my Dad had no combat training, and the guard managed to buck him in the ribs and throw him off. He started to rise, but the zebra guard had already retrieved his weapon and was taking aim.

“No… no, no, no, no, no…” I kept saying over and over again hoping against what came next.

He pulled the trigger.

The bullet passed effortlessly through his left eye and out the back of his head.

“NOOOOO!” I screamed. Tears running down my face. It felt as if I was burning. I became deaf to all the screaming and noises around me. I wanted to run to him, to wake him up. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be!

A pair of hooves were holding me back. I struggled and tried to push away, to wriggle out. Turning around to look at my captor, I saw my mother’s face wet with tears.

My strength left me.

“Why?! Why did they shoot Daddy?!” I cried, and she would just hold me tight, with tears and fear in her eyes.

The guard was turning to us now, he started lifting his gun. I couldn't tell if he was aiming at my mother or me. The moment seemed to last an eternity. Will it hurt? Will I be with my mom and dad when I die? Please let me be with them. I don’t want to die. I felt my mothers hooves tighten around me and I thought this was it. The end.

A bullet was fired. But not at us. It went into the right side of the guards head and came out the left. As it was leaving it carried with it peaces of skull, meat and blood. The gun slipped from his hooves. Another bullet tore through his throat. I could see white bone glistening in place where flesh used to be. The body slumped and hit the ground. I looked on at the unmoving zebra before me. His mouth open, blood pouring from the hole in the throat and head.

Mom pulled me away and towards the jungle.
“Run. Run and don’t look back!” And we ran.

We pushed to the forest. I didn’t know who was winning nor did I care. The only thing that mattered was surviving. I checked my side and noticed that Mom was laying on the ground a few hooves away from me. I ran back and nudged her.

“Come on we have to keep moving!” I went down beside her and tried to support her, to get her to get up and start moving.

I felt something warm and wet on my side. I turned to see my left flank covered in blood. It wasn’t mine.

“Mom! No! No! No! I’m not loosing you too. Come on please stand up, I’m not leaving you here!”

She raised her head tears streaming down her face, blood running from her nose and corner of her lips. Her eyes full of pain. She smiled lifting a hoof to my cheek.

“My son. Please go.” What was she saying? I shook my head in disbelief. There was no way I would leave my mother to die.

“You must.” Her hoof began to slip away, and I used mine to hold hers steady and maintain contact.

“ No! I don’t want to be alone. Please don’t leave me. I’m scared please, please don’t leave me!” My heart was in my throat, I couldn’t recognize my own voice. I was crying so hard I had trouble breathing.

“You won’t be. Now please… go.” Her head slumped, and the light of life left her eyes.

“Mom?! Mom! MOM!!! Please don’t go! Don’t leave me PLEASE!!!”

I knew she was gone, but I still couldn't move. I hugged her and didn’t want to let go. Sobbing and choking, I hid my face in her mane. I held my mother's body like this for a while, then slowly lowered her head to the ground and shut her eyes with a hoof. Then I ran.

I didn't know how long I had been running, nor how far I had gone. The screams and gunfire were growing fainter. But I kept running. I felt numb. Worn out and tired. But it seemed so distant, like it wasn’t me who felt these things. I just wanted to run away from it all. My family is dead. Mom, Dad. Both lost in a single night. Amber. Amber? “Amber!!!”

She could still be alive I have to go back for her. I turned around but the forest had grown dark, even the stars could no longer be seen. Obscured by the thick canopies. Left or right it made no difference. It all looked the same. I was lost. While I stood there, thinking where to go, exhaustion sneaked up on me. My hooves started shaking. The only sound I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears.

I took deep breaths as I tried to calm my heart. Slowly the sounds of the world returned. One sound in particular drew my attention. It was different than the usual jungle sounds. I ran towards it since it was coming from the general direction of where I came from.

The sound was steadily growing louder as I ran, the trees less thick. This must be it. I must be moving out of the jungle! Then the ground disappeared from beneath my hooves only to appear above me. It couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to be up or down as it rapidly switched places with the sky.

Surrounded by water, I kicked uselessly as the strong current of the river carried me off. Cold enveloped me and I dared not breathe. I was slammed against the rivers bottom and felt its rocks dig into my flesh.

Lungs burning, heart pounding I could do nothing except flail helplessly and pray that I wouldn’t drown. I could see little lights shining beyond the water’s surface as the edges of my vision darkened. Swimming to the lights with what little air my burning lung still had. The pressure in my ears was diminishing and once I broke the surface of the water I coughed and greedily gulped the sweetest air imaginable.

Paddling to the shore and heaving half of myself out of the water, I collapsed. My body just wouldn’t take any more abuse. I lay there looking up into the clear night sky. It graced me with a perfect view of the stars that had saved me.

“Amber… I’m sorry.” Darkness took me and swept my mind into the lands of dreams and nightmares.

(Thank you Kkat for making such an awesome story and world in which other ponies like myself can play and let loose our imagination. Somber deserves thanks as well. For proving that side-stories can be just as amazing and unforgettable as the original. Special thanks to Damhoof, Mentidabrony and Isphone for helping me edit and sort out the convoluted mess I've made out of Mist's story. Thanks also go to DamnfoolBrony for working his magic and helping me set up the perks. Oh and very special thanks to Lauren Faust!)